Incinerator emissions reduction system

ABSTRACT

A module for use in a system which upgrades the quality of pollution control within incinerators in which particulate emission is significantly reduced through automatic wet scrubbing of the smoke to remove particulate and other harmful material before emission of the smoke into the air. The system operates automatically in the presence of smoke and is self-cleaning. The module is positioned within an expansion chamber and comprises a porous barrier, spray heads, and a collection chamber for soaking, collecting and removing particulate.

United States Patent 1191 Dflmnitch 1451 NW. 20, 1973 [54] INCINERATOREMISSIONS REDUCTION 3,458,178 7/1969 Warnick 261 17 SYSTEM 3,695,00410/1972 DeLisio et a1. 55/227 3,710,555 1/l973 Domnitch 55/233 [76]Inventor: Domnmh, f 1.541,. 61 3,728,976 4/1973 Domnitch 110/119E1mhurst,N.Y. 11373 22 Filed: Feb. 14, 1973 Primary m r N zick AltarOsu'o enk, Fab r, G b & S if 211 App]. N6; 332,340 my 6 er 0 Related US.Application Data [57] ABSTRACT [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No.65,906, Aug. 21, A module for use in a System which upgrades the q 1970,Pat. No. 3,710,555. ity of pollution control within incinerators inwhich particulate emission is significantly reduced through [52] US. Cl55/227, 55/228, 55/233, automatic wet scrubbing of the smoke to removepar- 55/242, 55/260, 110/119, 261/17, 261/100, ticulate and otherharmful material before emission of 261 /DIG. 9 the smoke into the air.The system operates automati- [51] Int. Cl. Bflld 47/06 cally in thepresence of smoke and is self-cleaning. [58] Field of Search 55/233,227, 228, The module is positioned within an expansion cham- 55/242,260; 110/119; 261/17, 100, DIG. 9 bet and comprises a porous barrier,spray heads, and a collection chamber for soaking, collecting and remov-[56] References Cited ing particulate.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1957 Clark 55/227 6 Claims, 4 Drawing FiguresPATENTEDuuvzo I975 BEF SHEET INCINERATOR EMISSIONS REDUCTION SYSTEM Thisapplication is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 65,906,filed 21 Aug. 1970, now US. Pat. No. 3,710,555 issued Jan. 16, 1973.

The present invention relates to incinerators and more particularly to anovel scrubber for use in incinerator systems which operates undercontrol of automatic means and is substantially self-cleaning.

The primary concern of the present invention is the reduction ofpollution in the air we breathe as a result of inefficient incinerators.

The invention provides a method and apparatus for scrubbing incineratorgases in an economical manner and having few moving parts so as toprovide a high quality and yet simple and reliable structure.

Conventional reduction and emission control systems incorporate amultitude of controls and components to achieve a completely automatedburning cycle. The nature of such present day structures is socomplicated that any breakdown, in so much as any minor componentcontained therein, requires a complex and tedious procedure before thesystem can be put back on line, thereby significantly increasing thecost of design, assembly, maintenance, and operation.

The present invention is characterized by providing a system whicheffectively reduces particulate and other undesirable material fromincinerator emissions, while doing so in a simple straightforward andhighly reliable manner.

The present invention is comprised of barrier means within the exitingflue for constraining the emitted particulate bearing emission to flowin a tortuous path. Automatic smoke detector means are provided in theneighborhood of the barrier for selectively energizing a water sprayingdevice to emit a fine water spray upon a porous barrier, only in thepresence of an emission, The emission, in passing through the porousbarrier, is thoroughly washed, causing particulate to be removedtherefrom through the combined cooperation of the porous material andthe film of water sprayed upon one surface of the barrier. Particulateso removed from the emission is carried together with the water into acollection device where it may be simply and easily removed. The waterspray serves the further function of continuously washing the porousbarrier so as to provide a substantially self-cleaning system.

The porous barrier spans one opening of a housing positioned within andentirely filling the passageway in an expansion chamber. Spray headscontinuously wash the barrier to wet down particulate causing theparticulate to collect within the housing and be skimmed into a refusedrum or other container. The module is selfcleaning to'reducemaintenance to a minimum, typically one cleaning per year, or less.

It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide a novelemission reducing structure for use in incinerators and the like, inwhich a porous barrier and film of water associated therewith, areutilized to remove particulate from an incinerator emission andperforming the dual function of self-cleaning of the systern.

This as well as other objects of the present invention will becomeapparent when reading the accompanying description and drawings inwhich:

FIG. I shows an incinerator system incorporating the principles of thepresent invention, and is a view looking in the direction of arrows 1-1of FIG. la.

FIG. la is a plan view of FIG. I looking in the direction of arrowsla-la.

FIG. 2 shows an elevational view of the settling chamber-spray box ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the chamber of FIG. 2.

The incinerator system 10, as shown in FIG. I, may, for example, beinstalled within a multifloor building such as an apartment house. Thedrawing shows a schematic flow diagram of the progress of emissions froma primary combustion chamber provided in the lowest level thereof to thepoint where the emission enters into the atmosphere.

Occupants of the building may drop their waste and garbage into achute-flue I, through suitable hingedly mounted doors 17, which arepreferably biased (by means not shown) to remain in a normally closedposition.

The refuse drops downwardly, by gravity, into a primary combustionchamber 2, where the flames or heat source 2a burns the refuse.

During combustion, the charging flue gate 3 is moved to the closedposition. The combustion gases follow the path indicated by arrow A intoa tortuous shaped secondary chamber 4. The combustion gases pass a gasfired after burner 5, located within a portion of the tortuous shapedchamber, to burn and thereby reduce the fly ash content within thecombustion emission. The combustion gases continue substantially in theupward vertical direction where they pass through a by-pass chambersection 6 and enter into the main flue 1.

The combustion gases continue to move vertically upward until they reacha baffle 8 which constrains the gases to move along a tortuous path asindicated by the arrows B. An automatic smoke detector device 7 islocated beneath the underside of battle 8 so as to be directly in thepath of movement of the combustion gases. The smoke detector 7 iscoupled to a valve V in water supply line L which supplies the sprayheads 9 (to be more fully described). The water spray device has a sprayhead 9 whose valve V is operated under control of the smoke detectordevice 7 so as to permit the passage of water through the valvemechanism and thereby emit a water spray upon one surface of a barriermember 10. The porous barrier member 10 may preferably be a screenpositioned within expansion chamber 11 so as to cause anyemissionsdirected toward the porous barrier to be constrained to passtherethrough. The water spray device 9, when actuated by the automaticsmoke detector device 7, in the presence of an incinerator emission,provides a film of water which covers one surface of the porous barrier10, whereby the porous barrier and water film jointly cooperate to washparticulate from the emission. If desired, the smoke detector may besubstituted by a temperature sensing device which operates valve V tosupply water to the spray head assembly when a predetermined temperaturelevel is present in flue l.

The porous barrier is mounted to span one opening of a housing 20comprised of a base 20a, rear wall 20b, side walls 20c and 20d, and topwall 20e. An outlet opening 20f is defined by the top edges of walls20b, 20c and 20d and the left-hand edge of top wall 2tle. An inletopening 203 is defined by the right-hand edges of side walls 200 and 20dand top wall Zoe, and the top edge of short front wall 20h.

Screen 10, which may, for example, be an open mesh screen of 20 gaugestainless steel, spans the aforesaid inlet opening and has a portion athereof vertically aligned and the remaining portion 10b alignedhorizontally.

The housing is positioned within expansion chamber 11 whose perimeter,measured in the horizontal plane, is greater than the perimeter of flue1 to cause the velocity of upwardly moving smoke and particulate to beabruptly decreased due to the change in volume and cross-section of thepassageway.

The housing 20 has its base 20a resting upon a baffle 8 which serves toguide smoke and particulate to move along a tortuous path defined byarrows B as the waste matter moves upward.

The housing 20 is provided with a baffle plate 21 having a first portion21a secured to the interior of top wall 20s, a second portion 21bextending diagonally downward, and a third portion 210 extendingvertically downward.

The water pipe L has a horizontal portion 22a secured to the undersideof baffle plate portion 21a and is fitted with fan spray heads 9a, 9band 90 which direct a fan-like spray of water toward the interior sideof screen 10 so as to constantly wash the interior of screen 10.

Upwardly moving smoke and particulate is constrained to pass throughscreen 10 whereby the spray of water upon screen 10 causes particulateto be washed downwardly upon the exterior of screen 10 and upon andthrough screen portion 10b so as to be collected upon the base ofhousing 20 which is designed to be water-tight whereupon the waterwashed down together with particulate collects in the base of housing20. The particulate floats upon the surface of the collected pool P ofwater and is carried away through drain pipe 23 as soon as the waterreaches a height H. Substantially all of the particulate is caused topass through pipe 23 due to the constant flow of water from spray heads9a-9c thereby reducing maintenance of said housing to a minimum. It hasbeen found that housing 20 requires cleaning less than once a year.

Particulate which may be too large to pass through screen 10 will bewashed down to screen portion 10b. The constant flow of water tends todisintegrate the particulate whereupon it will pass through thehorizontally aligned portion 10b of the screen.

The constant washing of screen 10 by spray heads 9a-9c serves tocontinually clean screen 10 so that the removal of particulate by screen10 will not be impaired even after long continuous use.

Access to housing 20 is obtained through door D provided in one wall ofthe expansion chamber 11.

The baffle plate 21 serves to confine the water spray of spray heads90-90 to the immediate region of screen 10 (by plate portion 21b and toprevent the horizontal portion of the spray from passing directlythrough screen 10 (due to plate portion 22c).

The drain pipe 23 leads to a refuse container 13. An overflow pipe 14 ispositioned approximately half-way up the side of container 13.

Pipe 14 permits water reaching the intermediate level 13a to run offpipe 14 to be collected within a second container 15 provided at a lowerfloor.

The wetted down pollutants are caused to settle at the bottom ofcontainer 13 and may be periodically collected therefrom.

The housing 20 completely fills the flue portion 1a as shown best inFIG. 1a so as to constrain all pollutants to pass through housing 20.

The water film and screen jointly cooperate to remove the harmfulcomponents carried by the gaseous emission, while at the same timeproviding a unique arrangement for self-cleaning of the system.

Although there has been described a preferred embodiment of this novelinvention, many variations and modifications will now be apparent tothose skilled in the art. Therefore, this invention is to be limited,not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appending claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for removal of particulate and other pollutants from anincinerator emission comprising:

a flue having an inlet and an outlet for carrying the combustion gasesfrom its inlet, which gases are emitted from an incinerator, to theoutlet thereof, whereby the emission may enter into the atmosphere;

an enlarged expansion chamber coupled between the inlet and outlet ofsaid flue to permit the passage of gases therethrough at a reducedvelocity;

a baffle being provided within said flue and extending from one wall ofsaid enlarged chamber and aligned substantially transverse to the pathof movement of exiting gases through said flue for causing exiting gasesto move around said barrier plate in moving toward said outlet;

a housing positioned upon said baffle said housing having an inletopening for receiving gases as they pass around said baffle and anoutlet opening for enabling gases passing through said housing to passout of said expansion chamber;

porous barrier means completely covering said inlet opening forconstraining gaseous emissions to pass therethrough in moving toward theoutlet of said flue;

means positioned within said housing for spraying the exit surface ofsaid porous barrier means to provide a substantially constant film ofwater thereon, whereby said porous barrier and said film of watercooperate to wash particulate and other noxious elements from thegaseous emission before exiting from the outlet end of said flue;

the base of said housing being adapted to collect water emitted fromsaid spray means to form a pool in said housing;

a drain tube coupled to one wall of said housing to drain offparticulate collecting upon the surface of said pool as the water levelreaches a predetermined height.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said porous barrier means is a meshscreen having an L-shaped configuration, one portion of said screenbeing vertically aligned and the remaining portion thereof beinghorizontally aligned and extending in a direction away from the interiorof said housing;

said spray means being adapted to direct a water spray upon the interiorsides of the vertically aligned portion of said screen;

said horizontally aligned portion being adapted to support anyparticulate which is too large to pass through said screen whereby waterfrom said spray passing through the vertical portion of said screenfalls upon said horizontal portion to wet particulate tor meanspositioned beneath said baffle and near the inlet end of said enlargedchamber, for selectively operating said means for providing a waterspray.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said detector means is a smokedetector.

6. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said detector means is a temperaturesensitive means for activating said spray means only when thetemperature in the region of said detector reaches a predeterminedlevel.

1. Apparatus for removal of particulate and other pollutants from anincinerator emission comprising: a flue having an inlet and an outletfor carrying the combustion gases from its inlet, which gases areemitted from an incinerator, to the outlet thereof, whereby the emissionmay enter into the atmosphere; an enlarged expansion chamber coupledbetween the inlet and outlet of said flue to permit the passage of gasestherethrough at a reduced velocity; a baffle being provided within saidflue and extending from one wall of said enlarged chamber and alignedsubstantially transverse to the path of movement of exiting gasesthrough said flue for causing exiting gases to move around said barrierplate in moving toward said outlet; a housing positioned upon saidbaffle said housing having an inlet opening for receiving gases as theypass around said baffle and an outlet opening for enabling gases passingthrough said housing to pass out of said expansion chamber; porousbarrier means completely covering said inlet opening for constraininggaseous emissions to pass therethrough in moving toward the outlet ofsaid flue; means positioned within said housing for spraying the exitsurface of said porous barrier means to provide a substantially constantfilm of water thereon, whereby said porous barrier and said film ofwater cooperate to wash particulate and other noxious elements from thegaseous emission before exiting from the outlet end of said flue; thebase of said housing being adapted to collect water emitted from saidspray means to form a pool in said housing; a drain tube coupled to onewall of said housing to drain off particulate collecting upon thesurface of said pool as the water level reaches a predetermined height.2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said porous barrier means is a meshscreen having an L-shaped configuration, one portion of said screenbeing vertically aligned and the remaining portion thereof beinghorizontally aligned and extending in a direction away from the interiorof said housing; said spray means being adapted to direct a water sprayupon the interior sides of the vertically aligned portion of saidscreen; said horizontally aligned portion being adapted to support anyparticulate which is too large to pass through said screen whereby waterfrom said spray passing through the vertical portion of said screenfalls upon said horizontal portion to wet particulate collected uponsaid horizontal portion and thereby cause said particulate to passthrough said horizontal screen portion and deposited upon said pool ofwater.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising a deflector platemounted within said housing and positioned above said spray means fordeflecting the water spray so as to strike said screen whereby the pathof the angle of intersection of the spray and the vertical section ofthe screen is less than 90*.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 furthercomprising detector means positioned beneath said baffle and near theinlet end of said enlarged chamber, for selectively operating said meansfor providing a water spray.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein saiddetector means is a smoke detector.
 6. The apparatus of claim 4 whereinsaid detector means is a temperature sensitive means for activating saidspray means only when the temperature in the region of said detectorreaches a predetermined level.